Electric treater



Dec. 22, 1953 E. l. BAILEY ELECTRIC TREATER Filed Sept. 12, 1947 1N v- TOR. 0Mu v0 I. BAILEY BY HA5- ATTORNEYS- HARR/6,/(/C/-l, FOSTER a HARRIS 6r @QQFQ'MZ u e t -=th adian 9 electric field,--.as

Patented Dec. 22, 1953 Edmund I. Bailey, Toledo, Ohio, ass'ignor tolfetrolite tGorporatio'n, a corporation of Delaware Application $eptember 12, 1947,'Serial No. 173,7;1

e -c aims, 1

Mr-in en ion arelatesl e tr c itrea a more particularly to an electric 1 treating unit useful oforflthe. reslutionmot water'insoil vtype emulsions. =In mygp iousPaten l ,23 01259 I have d closed and .clairnedaar'ikelectric'treating apparatus .inuwhichna; sleeve. electrode extends .llpwardly within. .an inverted cup .e'electrode, the emulsion discharging l plvaiillyinto he sleeve electrodein a .mannertending'eto.aspirateLIlarge uantities of ihwm n ous mete i tb f i f bm th u rounding environment.

-It has now-beentgund that improved treatment of many. emulsions. is possible by restricting. the flow i .-s 9ni nmus mate al i t sleeve electrode and thence t othe main treating space between the sle g trodelandothe skirt of the inverted cup, electrode. (This is true 'bothas' concerns the uselpf. thetreati-ngunitin the electrical dehydration. of naturallymroduced crude, coil emulsions and in theQelectrical purification of pipe-line oils loi lowltyvater content. In the former process, the .ocrude oil emulsion j usually contains from 1M to 59,%v.:of water,,1the electrical treatment coalesc ng the water-into gravitationallyeseparable masses and producing .a d'ehydrated or pipeeline-oihofrelatively low water content. "'lhelamoun "of waters n the effluent .011 usually ;-does not exceed and commonly is much. lower. Even li;fi suchfdehydrated. or pipene: 1 cuntai -vs less. th n 1 i-wa er, it. may

still contain objectionable amounts. of watersoluble or Waterwettableimpurities not removed in thedehydrati recess. For example, .itl may containsalts dc-tr; ental to refinery equipment. Such impurities lean Joeyery largely removed. by mixing relatiyel-y tre lwater with the oil of low water content. nd-.s eating the resulting high-voltag coalescing 7, ea mya itsup My ;n ent ;1 a iea icu ar y u ul i u h lec ical purifi atien ls o low w e c n e to remove wat res lubleo vwat r ettah e: imurities. In talisman tiQn,.-thei nprwsd t eat- ;ine unit herein sc ed: make o o sible; subfresh watertusedin the iprocess. ;It also produces :better treatment-ia-nduotten p duces: fllu nt, oils m pr p lsatent It is an object of the present invention to empl y a b fll :twes mi th easpi atiqn of pill-coni 'u us m te ial nto the m -s ectr es s Hisnother biect o f theinventionto provide a .treatinauait a balfieiis I d sposed i s i reducti n st-n th am m e elativ ly which the treated o i-l maybe,,withdrawn. jihe (emu-4oz) 2 novel relationship with concentric or nested electrodes;

A further object "is to discharge the emulsion in a 'directionawayfrorn the bafile and into an electrode structure which deflects the emulsion and returns the electrically treatedv constituents to a position adjacent thebafile.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be evident to those skilled in the art from the'following exemplary embodiments of the invention which will be particularly described as applied to the electrical purification process in Which relativelyfresh water is mixed with a typical pipe-line oillof low water content and-containing ,no more than aifew per cent ofwater, e. g., to those oilsmore particularly described in my prior pate nt,

Referringjto the drawing:

Fig. '1 'isLa vertical sectional view, of a treater employing several treating units of 'theinvention,

Fig. 2 is an enlargedsectional view of one of these treatingunits,

Fig. 3' isa'horizo'ntal sectional view taken along the broken line'3-3 of Fig. 1, n

Fig. v(l is a fragmentary. sectional view, of. an alternative form of the invention, and

Fig. 5 is a sectionaly'iewtakenalong theflline 5 5-ofFig,4,

Referringparticularly to :Eig. l, the treater is shown as including a tank) providing a chamber ll closedatits upperand'lower ends by heads l2 and l3. 7 Initially orafter the treaterhasbeen in operationv forlaperiod, .the tank It containsoa body of oil-continuous material '13 anda body of water-, co1 itinuo us1 material t4, the zone of transition being'indicated' between dotted lines 15 and representing a z one in'twhich alayer of sludge or unresolvedl 'emulsi'on may be-.=prese nt. Water-cont'inuousv atennfm te drawn from the lower \oflthe tank througha-pip I 6,,this material being usually brackish water substantially tree Lot/ oil tospresent, no serious disposal p le o o v -Extending upwardly from the tan]; l6 is a pipe ,structure I8 providing anoutlet I79 .from

' flowof the treated on throughv the outlet I'Qfand of the water-continuous material discharging throu h thepipejlt may be controlled, by any' suitable means known in the art,'-to maintain the transitionhzone, indicated between dotted lines J5, inapprosimately' the position shown and preferably-in such way as to maintain-a back pr re n'th anl I rod 20'extendsthrottgh'a gland 21 at the top of the pipe structure l8 and through a saddle member 22 where it is supported by a nut 23. By turning the nut the vertical position of the rod may be adjusted.

The lower end of the rod 20 extends into the chamber I and carries an upper frame 24 which may include three radially extending arms 25. Rods 26 depend from these arms and carry a similarly formed lower frame 21 likewise including three radial arms 28 joined at their inner ends by a plate 29.

A baflie 30 is supported from the lower frame. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1-3, the baffle 30 is a large annular plate having a central opening 3| and attached to a ring 32 formed of angle iron and resting on the arms 28. Equally spaced around the bafiie 30 are openings 33.

The incoming emulsion moves through a capped riser pipe 35 and is divided between a number ;of smaller emulsion-delivery pipes 36 which are bent upwardly to extend respectively through the openings 33, leaving an annular space 31 around each pipe. The upwardly bent portion of each pipe comprises an emulsion discharge pipe '38 having an upwardly directed discharge orifice 39 from which the stream issues at considerable velocity as indicated by the arrow 40 of Fig. 2.

' In the dehydration of crude oil emulsions of high water content, the emulsion may be pumped by an oil pump 42 directly to the riser pipe 35. In the electrical purification process, the oil reaching the pump 42 contains no more than a few per cent of water, usually being a pipe-line or already-dehydrated oil. In this instance,

relatively fresh water is advanced from a pipe 33 by a pump 44 to meet the oil stream in a T fitting 45 where the oil and water preliminarily mix and .move through a pipe 46 to the riser pipe 35. Ad-

ditional mixing will take place during this flow,

during flow through the emulsion delivery pipes 36 and/or during discharge from the orifices .Some oils require additional mixing in which event a weight-loaded valve 48' may be disposed in the pipe 45.

The object of the mixing, wherever performed,

is to produce an emulsion which can be continuously and substantially completely resolved with ,the aid of the electric fields to be described, into two components, namely, an oil of low water con- Ttent and a substantially oil-free water with no [progressive building up or accumulation of any sludge layer such as would tend to short-circuit the electrodes. .most oils, cause the continued building up of a layer of sludge in the transition zone, indicated between the dotted lines IS. A sludge layer which does not progressively build up in thickness or accumulate can be tolerated but the mixing shoul Too intimate a mixing will, on

be such that the sludge layer will not build up to the electrodes nor build downwardly to the Idraw-oif pipe I6.

In the treater shown, three treating units are employed, each comprising a cup-like electrode skirt 54 is preferably, N though not invariably,

flared downwardly, as suggested. The lower poll'- tion of the electrode 50 provides an annular lip or edge 51 spaced above the bafile 3'0 to provide an annular passage 58. The baffle 30 guides or deflects the annular stream to flow outwardly through the annular passage 58, as suggested by the arrow 59.

Each sleeve-like electrode 5| extends into the corresponding electrode 50 and provides an upper end 6| spaced a distance below the deflector 52. The sleeve-like electrode 5| preferably extends downwardly at substantially the same angle as the skirt 54 to provide an annular treating space 62 therebetween. The lower end of the sleeve-like electrode 5| provides an annular edge 83 which is spaced a small distance from the baflle 35 to provide an auxiliary annular passage 64. The electrodes 50 and 5| are mounted concentrically with respect to the axis of the discharge pipe 38 and are electrically insulated from each other.

To accomplish this result, each of the sleevelike electrodes 5| is welded to bifurcations of an arm 66. The three arms 65 slide adjustably in three sleeves 51, being secured in proper angular and radial position by a lock means 68, as described more fully in my patent supra. The inner ends of the sleeves B1 are secured to a rod 69 supported centrally of the tank H] by a suspension insulator 10 carried by an intermediate frame ll. This frame may be constructed similarly to the frames 24 and 21, providing arms 12 which are suspended from rods 13. These rods preferably extend through the end member l2 and are threaded to receive nuts 14. By turning the nuts, the position of the intermediate frame H can be varied as can also the vertical position of each of the electrodes 5|.

Each electrode 50 is connected to a support 75 hung from a rod 11 by a suspension insulator 18, the rod Tl being adjustable from the exterior of the tank as previously described with reference to the rods I3. The three supports 15 are joined by spacing members 19 to hold them in fixed positions relative to each other and to connect electrically each of the supports "l6 and their corresponding electrodes 50.

A high-voltage source is connected to one or the other or both of the electrodes 50, 5| to establish a coalescing electric field therebetween. The preferred energizing system is shown in 'Fig. 1 as including a double-transformer system including transformers 8| and 82 with secondary windings additively connected, the common terminal of these windings being grounded as indicated at 33. The high-voltage terminal of the transformer 8| is connected by a conductor 84 through an inlet bushing 85 to the rod 69 to energize the several electrodes 5|. Similarly, the high-voltage terminal of the transformer 82' is connected by a conductor 85 through an inlet bushing 81 to one of the supports '16 for energizing the several cup-like electrodes 58.

'The tank It and the emulsion discharge pipes 38 are preferably grounded. By this connection,

the potential-between the electrodes 59 and 5| is represented by the sum of the voltages of the transformers 8|, 82 but the potential between either electrode and any grounded portion of the equipment will be only one-half this value if the transformers are of equal voltage. This gives attendant advantages as mentioned in my patent supra.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1-3, the bafile 30 is also grounded through With this arrangetame-68.7

treating unit. g

In the operationof this eembodim'entain .the electrical desalting of pipe-line- Qua-{operating conditions may be as defi-ned in; my prior-rpatent,

except that the .amount of; relatively fresh water can be substantially reducedvand often cutsin half-as compared with the.samectreatment with- ,out the .bafiie 3G. aonscertai-n oilsaas elittle as 5% of relatively fresh=waterbyNQIume-rcamhe,

employed, as'compared with;;,prior luses. of-f-l5.% water on these oils. :Avtypical:voltagerof each of the transformers-8i, 82;-is'-.16@0Q0-voltswith spacings across the annular -,treating.is pace 262 of about four inches.

It has been found desirable-.tc-iminimiae the spacing between the annular edge-53zandrthe baiiie 3B. A spacingof about-.2" willlbe found satisfactory and in some instancesthis-distance may be reduced toabout --.l%z without-causing short-circuiting, erratic :operation i'OI' tOO high :a

current drain.

With this systemythe incoming-emulsiondischarging from the dischargeorifice39- as;a.-relatively high-velocity stream, is firstsubjected-to 1 a half-voltage field between the dischargespipe '38 and the electrode 5 I.

This stream isdeflected or spread-by the ;de-

-1'-lector 52 to enter a ,'full-,voltage -field-between the upper edge of the electrode 5| sand.. the defiector 52. -The -resulting: annularstreamiiowing downwardly through the :annular treating space 32 is also subjected :to a full-voltage field. When this downwardly moving :stream nears the baffle 38 it is again deflected "(outwardly through a half-voltage field in the annular passage 58. A smallportion of the downwardly flowing-annular stream-wi1l beaspiratedinwardly through the auxiliary iannular'passage 64,

as suggested by arrows 90,to move through a.

half-voltage but relatively .high-gradientffidd in the auxiliary annuIar'paSSage, thus 'reentering the interior of the electrode}! to berecycled therearound.

In passing through the electric fields, the water droplets of the emulsion are coalesced into masses of sufiicient size to gravitate from the oil and to the body of water-continuous material [4. The bafiie apparently aids in this separation either through deflection of the downwardly moving stream of treated constituents or through displacement of the coalesced masses away from the immediate vicinity of the treating unit to drop through the oil either in an annular passage 9| between the periphery of the baflie 30 and the tank in or through the opening 3| of the baiiie. This gives an opportunity for the oil immediately beneath the baifie 30 to be relatively dry so that any such oil aspirated upwardly through the annular space 37 of each treating unit, as indicated by the arrow 93 of Fig. 2, will contain less water than would such aspirated material in the absence of the battle 30. The amount of such aspirated material flowing as indicated by the arrow 93 can be controlled by changing the diameter of the corresponding opening 33 or its emulsion discharge pipe 38.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, each treating unit includes the same arrangement of electrodes has material :intothezelectrodesli I" fromg-beneath the baffle -l0.0 which aspiratiiinjnduced flow is I-indicatedin -,F ig. .2 by-the arrows93. addition, the baflies I 00 are gindividual-ly a'dj ustable and r-and 5 l.--;except that an individuallbame.lnll istused was a. part of ..each .ment rthe haflie .111 0. 4slacirculargplateuhavin La p nipheryr-llll somewhat{lar er-An diameterlthan the-annularaedge2.5T!-lof rthezelectrodeffi8. .ILIt. can bersupportedidirectly onizhevemulsionl discharge -pipe $38 of this xtreating--.un'it raskbycuse. of a set screw lflhextending through. afrhub 193 .of .the -bafile I00. This-arrangement,permits adjustment .of: the position oi .the bafllerrelativetotheannular edge 63 ofl .the electroded l "with {corresponding adjustmentof the--widthrcf ltheauxiliary annular passage treating}. ufiitJI-llnllthis" embodi- With this arrangement-{shown-lin1Eigserl-andl5 there is-substantially. noiaspirationofroil-continuthe double-frame; suppont forlthelbailie 30, shown .in Riga-1, isaeliminated. Exc ept--for =these ldifferences,the mode-,of operation-of the embodiment ofrFigs. er and 5 is.substantiallysthesame asthat previously described, the-coalesced water masses being guidedby v the ebafiles L0!) to their peripheries before -l-settli-ng :to the mwater-icontinuous body I4.

Variouschanges-and.modificat ionscan be made without departing"iromkthe-gspirit-of tthe-inven-- tion as defined inthe appendd-claims.

.Iclaimas myiinventionz; I V

1. In an selectric treaterefior emulsions, -=the combination of: la vtank adapted -to contain-a ]body of oil-continuousamaterial :an inverted cuplike. electrode in said'ltan'k aisleeve-l-ike electrode extending upwardly within: said sinverted acupilikeelectrodefsaid sleeveelikeaelectrode having an entrance end; -:an:- emulsion-.edischarge. pipe discharging upwardly :intossaidcentrance endofsaid sleeve-like-electrode and tending-moaspirateloilcontinuous materialeinto said entrance -end; a b afiie having-a l -central eopening of --substantially smaller cross-sectional areasthanasaidezentrance end and .having; .an outer peripheryaatf least as large as said:entrancaend;sandrmeansiormountopening.

2. An electric treater as defined in claim 1 in which said baflle tightly surrounds said pipe to eliminate any aspiration of oil-continuous material into said sleeve-like electrode through the junction of said bafile and said pipe.

3. In an electric emulsion treater having a sleeve electrode providing open ends bounded by annular edges and adapted to be positioned in an oil-continuous environment, said treater having a'pipe jetting a stream of the emulsion to be treated into one open end of the sleeve electrode and toward the other open end thereof in a manner to aspirate oi1-continuous material from around said sleeve electrode into the interior thereof to flow therethrough in the direction of emulsion flow in said pipe, said emulsion and said oil-continuous material moving from the other open end of said sleeve electrode and said pipe and sleeve electrode being at different potentials to establish an electric field therebetween, a structure for reducing such aspiration of oilcontinuous material into said sleeve electrode, said structure including: a substantially flat baffle of substantially larger size than said annular edge bounding said one open end of said sleeve electrode, said baffle providing an opening of sufficient size to receive said pipe but substantlally smaller in diameter than said one open end of said sleeve electrode; and means for mounting said baflle at a position closely adjacent but spaced from said annular edge bounding said one open end of said sleeve electrode and in a position to traverse a substantial portion of said one open end of said sleeve electrode to define a restricted annular passage between such edge and said baffle, said restricted annular passage throttling the fiow of such aspirated material entering said one open end of said sleeve electrode, said mounting means mounting'said baflle to extend around said pipe with said pipe extending through said opening.

4. An electric emulsion treater as defined in claim 3, including a cup-like electrode in which said sleeve electrode is nested to guide the emulsion and aspirated oil-continuous material to flow as a stream in a substantially reverse direction along the exterior of said sleeve electrode toward said baffle and past said restricted annular passage whereby the material aspirated through said restricted annular passage is drawn from such reverse-flowing stream, said cup-like electrode providing an annularlip spaced from said bafile a'greater distance than the spacing between said annular edge and said bafile to provide a larger annular passage for discharge of the non-aspirated portion of the reverse-flowing stream, and including means for establishing an electric field in said restricted annular passage.

5. In an emulsion treating unit adapted to be submerged in a body of oil-continuous material, the combination of: a baffle having an opening therein; a discharge pipe extending through said opening in said baflle and providing a forwardly directed stream-discharging orifice positioned a short distance beyond said baffle; a sleeve-like electrode; means for mounting said sleeve-like electrode spaced from said baffle and concentrically with respect to the stream discharged forwardly from said discharge pipe, said sleeve-like electrode providing an open exit end through which said stream moves, said sleeve-like elec trode providing an open entrance end into which said orifice discharges, said bafile being of greater diameter than said open entrance end and traversing said open entrance end and said opening in said baflle being substantially smaller than said open entrance end so as to restrict aspirated flow of oil-continuous material into said entrance end; a cup-like electrode including a deflector disposed transversely of said stream at a position beyond said open exit end, said cup-like electrode including a skirt extending angularly toward said baiiie but spaced therefrom, said cuplike electrode surrounding said sleeve-like electode to define an annular treating space therebetween', said deflector spreading said stream to form an annular stream moving through said annular treating space in a reverse direction toward said baffle, said skirt of said cup-like electrode providing an annular lip spaced from said baffle to define an annular passage through which the material of said annular stream flows outwardly; and means for electrically insulating said sleeve-like electrode from said cup-like electrode to permit establishment of a high voltage field in said annular treating space.

6. A treating unit as defined in claim 5 in which said sleeve-like electrode provides an annular edge spaced from said baflie to define an auxiliary annular passage, and including means for electrically insulating said sleeve-like electrode from said bailie to permit establishment of an electric field in said auxiliary annular passage whereby any material moving through said auxiliary annular passage is subjected to an electric 7. A treating unit as defined in claim 5 in which said sleeve-like electrode provides an annular lip spaced from said bafile to define an auxiliary annular passage through which a portion of said annular stream may return to the interior of said sleeve-like electrode and in which said annular lip of said sleeve-like electrode is closer to said bafile than said annular lip of said cup-like electrode.

EDMUND I. BAILEY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,833,926 Fisher Dec. 29, 1931 1,838,934 Fisher Dec. 29, 1931 2,320,059 Bailey May 25, 1943 

1. IN AN ELECTRIC TREATER FOR EMULSIONS, THE COMBINATION OF: A TANK ADAPTED TO CONTAIN A BODY OF OIL-CONTINUOUS MATERIAL; AN INVERTED CUPLIKE ELECTRODE IN SAID TANK; A SLEEVE-LIKE ELECTRODE EXTENDING UPWARDLY WITHIN SAID INVERTED CUPLIKE ELECTRODE, SAID SLEEVE-LIKE ELECTRODE HAVING AN ENTRANCE END; AN EMULSION DISCHARGE PIPE DISCHARGING UPWARDLY INTO SAID ENTRANCE END OF SAID SLEEVE-LIKE ELECTRODE AND TENDING TO ASPIRATE OILCONTINUOUS MATERIAL INTO SAID ENTRANCE BAFFLE HAVING A CENTRAL OPENING OF SUBSTANTIALLY SMALLER CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA THAN SAID ENTRANCE END AND HAVING AN OUTER PERIPHERY AT LEAST AS LARGE AS SAID ENTRANCE END; AND MEANS FOR MOUNTING SAID BAFFLE TO EXTEND ACROSS SAID ENTRACE END BUT SPACED FROM SAID SLEEVE-LIKE ELECTRODE AND 